A 9-month-old baby boy was shot in the head by his five-year-old brother. The children’s devastated mother called 911 around 9 a.m. to her home in Elmo, Missouri.”She said that she needed an ambulance at her home, that her 5-year-old son had shot her 9-month-old son in the head with a paintball gun,” Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said.

Once emergency crew members arrived, it was apparent that the child had been shot with a .22 caliber magnum revolver. They flew the child to Children’s Mercy Hospital, where he died. According to the mother, the 9-month-old was in his playpen and the five-year-old found a loaded handgun lying around. Of course that should not be happening. When you have two young children, there shouldn’t be a gun just casually laying around. This mother wasn’t doing what these awful parents did when they allowed their toddler to play with a gun, coaching him on by saying, “Bang. Bang.” But it is strange that the gun was in reach of a five-year-old and it was loaded! This case is however being handled as an accident.

According to reports, the sheriff’s office says the gun actually belonged to another family member, not the mother. They’re investigating that aspect of the case now. “You know, just some gun safety could have cone into play, and would have maybe, you know prevented the situation, but it’s just really sad, altogether,” neighbor Jessica Hutchison said. The mother’s other three children, including the five-year-old, are in the custody of relatives.

Our heart goes out to this mother, who has to bury her nine-month-old son. What a heartbreaking thing to go through.